Lighthouse Road (Cedar Cove #1)(28)

“You must have a good relationship with your ex.”

“I wish we’d gotten along this well while we were married,” she joked. “Now his second wife’s getting the benefit of all my training.”

“Stan’s remarried?”

Olivia nodded.

Jack studied his dinner for a moment, then said, “Because of the treatments Eric underwent for the cancer, he’ll never father children.”

Which meant there was no possibility of Jack’s ever being a grandfather, Olivia realized. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to be.” It seemed he wanted to change the subject. “Do you speak to Stan often?” he asked.

“Only in matters having to do with the children,” she told him. “They’re both adults now, so there isn’t much reason for phone calls and so forth. I suppose we’ll be in touch a little more often once James’s baby is born. What about you and your ex?”

Jack tore his paper napkin in half, then looked horrified by what he’d done. “I haven’t spoken to Vicki in years. Unfortunately, our divorce was bitter.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again because she could see that talking about his ex-wife distressed him.

“What’s the matter with couples these days?” he asked. “Doesn’t anyone stay together anymore?”

“The Beldons have been married since shortly after high school,” Olivia said, leading into the subject of how he knew Bob.

“Ah yes, Bob and Peggy.”

“I went to high school with both of them,” Olivia explained.

“They were boyfriend and girlfriend back then?” Jack asked.

“From tenth grade on.” Those two had been together practically as long as she could remember.

“Bob was in Vietnam,” Jack said.

“Is that how you know him?” Olivia asked.

Jack shook his head. “I met him later. About ten years ago.”

Olivia waited, wondering if he’d tell her how they’d come to meet. He didn’t.

“Bob’s the one who suggested I apply for the job here in Cedar Cove. I was looking for a slower pace and decided to take him up on his offer to visit the bed-and-breakfast. I immediately fell in love with the area.”

“And so you uprooted your whole life.”

She met his gaze and they shared a smile.

“I’m glad I did,” he said, offering her a jalapeño.

She shook her head vigorously. “I’m glad you made the move, too.”

Very glad!

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Cecilia poured herself a soothing glass of milk and sat at the small table in her tiny kitchen. She rested her bare legs on the second chair and leaned back, closing her eyes.

After a night on her feet, her toes throbbed. It’d been much worse when she was pregnant. She remembered how badly her ankles had swollen nearly every night. From the first, the pregnancy had been hard on her. She hoped subsequent pregnancies wouldn’t be as difficult, then realized there wouldn’t be any more. Never again did she plan to risk that kind of emotional pain.

She sipped the milk, hoping it would help her sleep. The George Washington had pulled back into the naval shipyard earlier in the day, just as predicted, leaving Cecilia to wonder if she’d hear from Ian.

Probably not. She was mentally reviewing the reasons they should stay away from each other when the phone rang.

Startled by the unexpectedness of it, Cecilia grabbed the receiver.

“Hello.”

Silence.

Great, a prank call. If she could afford caller ID, she would’ve phoned right back and given the pervert a piece of her mind.

“Hi.”

Ian.

She was too breathless to respond.

“I tried calling you earlier, but you weren’t home,” he said.

“I was at work.”

“I know. I thought of stopping by The Captain’s Galley, but I promised you I wouldn’t.”

She supposed he was letting her know he’d kept his word. “I just got home a little while ago.”

“That’s what I figured. I didn’t wake you or anything, did I?”

“No.”

“How are you?” he asked.

Cecilia could hear background traffic and supposed he was calling from a pay phone. “I’m okay.” Nothing had changed in the week since she’d seen him.

“You heard the George Washington had to turn back, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” She didn’t mention that news had drifted into town on Wednesday—four days ago.

“I don’t know how long we’re going to be in port, but probably not long.” He paused, then added, “I’d like to see you. Would you be willing to meet?”

Cecilia squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn’t thinking clearly enough to answer him. Her heart leapt at the offer, but her head told her it would be a big mistake.

“I was at the college this week,” she told him, avoiding his question for the moment.

“Olympic College?”

“I signed up for two classes.”

“Cecilia, that’s great!” At least Ian was willing to encourage her, even if her father wasn’t. “What else is new?”